


Varsity Outcasts

by bandable



Series: skz works [5]
Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Basketball, Alternate Universe - High School, Basketball, Best Friends, Cute, High School, How Do I Tag, M/M, Slice of Life, Strangers to Friends to Lovers, lapslock
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-14
Updated: 2018-04-14
Packaged: 2019-04-22 16:13:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,073
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14312436
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bandable/pseuds/bandable
Summary: yang jeongin and hwang hyunjin are the only two underclassmen on the varsity basketball team. the seniors are resentful toward the two, and so hyunjin and jeongin find a place to fit in with each other as the varsity team outcasts. it reads just like a crappy teen romcom movie.aka; a jeonjin high school basketball player au with background jisung/seungmin





	Varsity Outcasts

**Author's Note:**

> i wanted to write tonight but was getting frustrated with everything i was writing with some of my other fics so w/ a little help from the stray typous group chat, this came to be.
> 
> this was originally going to be 900 to 1k words but somehow it evolved to 6k adfajijcivadf
> 
> i hope you all enjoy it!

jeongin had decided to try out for basketball on a whim. he had been playing for a while outside of school, and did it throughout junior high but this was different. this was  _ high school _ , where kids actually got cut from teams and weren’t handed a jersey and spent the entire season sitting on a bench. (yes, kids still had that happen, but those kids could actually play still! they weren’t just there for the participation trophy.) 

 

as a freshman, he was totally expecting to either make the freshman team or not make one at all. he hadn’t noticed the coaches leaning to each other during tryouts and whispering to each other, “number 9, he’s got some serious skill.” he didn’t see his number get written down on a notepad, circled in red pen multiple times. and he definitely didn’t hear the coaches whisper to each other on the last day of tryouts, “number nine?” “varsity, definitely.”

 

the day the results were posted, jeongin was tempted to just avoid the papers posted outside the gym all together and find out through someone else whether he had made fresh team or not. however, when he showed up to school that thursday, seungmin was there the moment he stepped into the building. “dude, you have to go check the team lists  _ right _ now!” 

 

jeongin stumbled as seungmin grabbed his wrist and started to pull him toward the gym. “what? why? did i not make it?” he asks, heart sinking as he admits to himself that he actually did really want to make a team.

 

seungmin stops, throwing him a glance but not saying anything before pulling him the rest of the way to the gym. seungmin stops in front of the varsity paper, but jeongin walks toward the freshman team paper posted two papers down. he reads down the numbers and his heart sinks again. “oh, i guess i didn’t make it.” jeongin shrugs, “that’s okay. i’m not that good anyway.”

 

seungmin lets out a squawk, “jeongin you are the stupidest freshman i have ever met.” 

 

jeongin huffs indignantly, “you’re a freshman too, seungmin!”

 

“only because of where my birthday falls!” seungmin responds defensively, and then sighs, “but that’s not the point!”

 

seungmin pulls jeongin over to the varsity paper and points at it dramatically. jeongin sighs, “i don’t know why--”

 

“just read the damn paper!” seungmin exclaims, “please.” he tacks on.

 

jeongin rolls his eyes and sighs, “fine.”

 

_ #3… #2… #18… #24… #9… #3-- _

 

_ #9?! _

 

“what?!” jeongin yells a bit too loudly, slamming a hand over his mouth when everyone in the hallway turns to glare at him and seungmin.

 

seungmin grins and nods quickly, “yes!”

 

jeongin goes down the list again just to make sure he wasn’t seeing things. but, no, it was real. his number was really on the list for varsity. as a freshman. “i… i made varsity?” he whispers.

 

seungmin slapped jeongin on the shoulder and arm repeatedly, “you made varsity!” he yells.

 

“i made varsity!” jeongin yells back, and suddenly he was slapping seungmin too, and the duo was just… slapping each other in the middle of the sports’ hallway.

 

-

 

hyunjin had moved into the silver oak high school district over the summer. he wasn’t necessarily excited to start over at a new school during his sophomore year, never being a fan of change in the first place. however, when he started school and met jisung, one of the weirdest kids he had met, and discovered their great basketball program, things seemed to look up for him.

 

he had been playing basketball since he could remember. his dad had played it in high school and college, and then became a coach, and so hyunjin was surrounded by basketball since he was at least three or four, and as he got older, it just became something he did. finding out that the program at silver oak was one of the best in the area, was beyond exciting. 

 

he was hoping to make junior varsity, as that’s what he had played his freshman year at his old school. however, when he showed up to tryouts and saw all of the other people trying out, he didn’t let his hopes get up too high. these kids were no joke, they were all insanely good players, and hyunjin wasn’t sure if his skills measured up with the rest of them.

 

that’s not to say he didn’t give it his damn all during tryouts. he tried every little trick his dad had ever taught him to try and grab the coaches attention and maybe score himself a spot on a team. he didn’t want to spend basketball season in the stands, a place he hadn’t been since he was like… six. 

 

he walked out of the last day of tryouts drenched in sweat and satisfied with his performance. he doesn’t think there was a single thing he could have done different, and decided to just accept his fate. 

 

the morning team lists were posted, hyunjin got to school late. he didn’t even have time to think about checking the list, the bell having run five minutes ago when he burst through the front doors. he had to sprint up two flights of stairs to get to his math classroom at least  _ somewhat _ on time.

 

he still got a lunch detention for being late, and had to spend the entire day in a state of anxiety as there wasn’t any time for him to get to the sports’ hallway and check the team lists. he had shot jisung a text during fifth period with his number and asked him to check the lists and tell him, deciding it was better to know now rather than wait just to see it in person.

 

**_jisung_ **

 

_ dude _

 

**_hyunjin_ **

 

_ what?? did i make a team _

 

**_jisung_ **

 

_ did you make a team? did you make a team??? _

 

_ you didn’t just make a team, you made varsity!! _

 

**_hyunjin_ **

 

_??????????????????????? _

 

_ what????? _

 

**_jisung_ **

 

_ yea!!! felix was telling me that only you and one other underclassman made varsity _

 

_ i think the other kid is a freshman or something but congrats man!! that’s awesome!! can’t wait to make embarrassing large posters with your face on them and go to all of your games _

 

**_hyunjin_ **

 

_ you are never invited to one of my games _

 

**_jisung_ **

 

_ jokes on you they’re school events u can’t keep me away _

 

**_hyunjin_ **

 

_ rip if only i could _

 

**_jisung_ **

 

_ >:( _

 

-

 

making varsity was one thing, finding a place where jeongin fit in on the team was a whole other thing. the entire team was made up of 10 seniors, a sophomore and him. it was easy to say that the seniors held a little bit of a… grudge toward jeongin. he was only a freshman, and many of the seniors on the team were a good four years older than him and had worked their way through the teams to make it onto varsity in their senior year. they were annoyed, to say the least, that a sophomore and freshman had made the team so easily and so young.

 

because of the annoyance the older members held toward jeongin and the sophomore, jeongin had hoped that they would become friends, but two weeks after practices had begun, jeongin had only had one conversation with the other, and still hadn’t caught his name. it didn’t help that jeongin was playing as a swingman and the sophomore as a power forward as they didn’t get much interaction on the court, either.

 

that changed, however, when they were assigned warm up partners on the first day of the third week. “this person will be who you do all of our partner workouts and exercises with, so get nice and comfortable with this person. they’re your other half for the rest of the season, okay?” 

 

it made sense, logically, that the freshman and sophomore on the team would get paired together, as none of the seniors wanted to work with them anymore than they had to. the seniors all had their own friends within themselves, they weren’t necessarily willing to become buddies with the underclassmen that had made, what they saw as, their team.

 

“and that leaves us with hyunjin and jeongin!” coach park finishes, tapping his clipboard once, “partner up and introduce yourselves real quick and then lineup so we can practice passes.”

 

jeongin looked up from his laces and caught eyes with the sophomore who he now had a name for. “hi,” hyunjin said once he was standing in front of jeongin. “i’m hyunjin.”

 

jeongin struggled to stand up, and laughed awkwardly when he was stable on his two feet. “oh, uh, hi, i’m jeongin.” he introduces as well.

 

and then it was silent. painfully silent. hyunjin rubbed the back of his neck uncomfortably and jeongin coughed. “so--”

 

“i--” 

 

they start to say at the same time and then there’s a mess of “what were you going to say?” “oh you can go first,” “sorry!”

 

“players, lineup!” coach park yelled, and the awkward moment fizzles into a handful of small chuckles as they rush to lineup.

 

after practice, jeongin was changing into a light, long sleeved t-shirt when hyunjin appeared next to him in the locker rooms. “hi.”

 

jeongin jumped slightly before giving hyunjin a small smile, “hi.”

 

hyunjin sits on the bench next to the lockers as jeongin finishes shoving his stuff into his bag. “how do you feel being the only freshman on the team?” hyunjin asks him.

 

“i… i mean, i’m happy that i’m playing and beyond ecstatic it’s with some of the best players in the school…” jeongin’s voice trails off as he zips up his bag.

 

hyunjin nods knowingly, “... but?” he asks, “there’s a but, isn’t there?”

 

jeongin sits next to hyunjin to tie his laces. “yeah… but it feels a bit hostile, you know? i get it, i’m a freshman and a lot of them worked their asses off to make varsity as a senior, but it’s not like i could help it... you know?”

 

“oh, i definitely do.” hyunjin agrees. “while i’m not a freshman, i may as well be. i moved here over the summer, they don’t think i’ve established myself enough in the school to warrant playing on the varsity team.”

 

a moment of silence falls on the duo, less awkward and more comfortable this time. “i guess we have each other, at least.” hyunjin offers, “we’re both the outcasts of the team.”

 

“varsity outcasts,” jeongin says, and then laughs, rubbing his face, “it sounds like a bad teen romcom.”

 

hyunjin laughs too, “guess we got the starring roles.” hyunjin nudges jeongin with his shoulder, “alright, well i better go.”

 

jeongin nods and stands up with hyunjin, “yeah, me too, i got a long walk home.” he sighs, “can’t get picked up tonight.”

 

hyunjin shakes his head, “i can give you a ride.” he says, “i drive myself home, it won’t be a problem.”

 

jeongin shakes his head as they leave the locker rooms and head toward the parking lot, “you don’t have to… i don’t want to inconvenience you.” 

 

hyunjin pulls his car keys out of the side pocket of his gym bag, “do you live up towards the north end?” 

 

jeongin pauses, “... yes.” he mutters, sheepishly.

 

hyunjin smiles at him, and jeongin shakes off the weird feeling that fills his chest as the temperature difference between the school building and outside. it definitely wasn’t because hyunjin was pretty anyway, and even prettier when he smiled, and  _ even _ prettier when he smiled  **at** jeongin.

 

“perfect!” hyunjin says, “then i’m headed that way, anyway. come on.”

 

how could jeongin say no to that? of course, he didn’t  _ try _ very hard, but what could go wrong in the ten minute drive to his house? “okay,” jeongin agrees, as hyunjin presses a button and a grey car in the lot beeps. 

 

“don’t worry, i’m a great driver.” hyunjin jokes, “that’s how i got my license the moment i turned sixteen.”

 

-

 

it turns out that accepting a ride home from hyunjin was simultaneously the best and worst choice of jeongin’s life. 

 

it was the best because he got to spend an extra ten minutes with hyunjin and getting to know him. he found out that hyunjin liked bucket hats and was in two commercials when he was six. he moved here from three cities over, and had been playing basketball since he was five, and loved pop music.

 

it was the worst, however, because he got to spend an extra ten minutes with hyunjin. in these ten minutes jeongin realized that hyunjin was funny, nice,  _ and _ pretty. he wasn’t sure why these things bothered him, but it made his chest squeeze in a strange way, and that confused him. 

 

hyunjin pulled into jeongin’s driveway, and before jeongin could open the car door, he started to talk. “uh… if you ever need a ride home again, just let me know. i live just a few streets down.” hyunjin says, and smiles at jeongin again.

 

jeongin doesn’t know why it felt like his face heated up a little, but nods quickly. “yeah, yeah, of course. thank you!” he says, opening his door and rushing into his house without looking back.

 

when he hears hyunjin drive away, he relaxes against the door, and takes a deep breath. what was that? that was not good. he had to be around hyunjin all the time now because of the partner thing within the team. him developing whatever kind of feelings these were, was not okay in any way. he had to snap out of it.

 

**_jeongin_ **

 

_ i am a fool _

 

**_seungmin_ **

 

_ why what did you do _

 

**_jeongin_ **

 

_ hyunjin is the other underclassmen on the team and we’re partners for warmups and stuff... and he gave me a ride home today _

 

**_seungmin_ **

 

_ and this is a problem because…? _

 

**_jeongin_ **

 

_ because he’s probably the prettiest person i have ever seen and i am a fool _

 

_ i can’t like him we have to be partners for the rest of the season!! what if he finds out and things become awkward and then we ruin the dynamic of the team because we can’t act normal around each other _

 

**_seungmin_ **

 

_ i think youre thinking too much into this. it’s just a crush right? he doesnt know and he doesnt have to know lol just… idk ignore it _

 

**_jeongin_ **

 

_ wow why didnt i think of that seungmin u are so smart a real genius _

 

**_seungmin_ **

 

_ i can taste the sarcasm in that text _

 

**_jeongin_ **

 

_ good because youre the damn fool not me :( _

 

**_seungmin_ **

 

_ okay okay sorry  _

 

_ for real though, just see how things go! ur adorable maybe he likes u back _

 

**_jeongin_ **

 

_ u are an absolute fool _

 

**_seungmin_ **

 

_ i’m just trying to help u loser _

 

-

 

nothing big happens between hyunjin and jeongin for the next week and a half. they continue to talk before and after practices, walking to the locker rooms and leaving together. they’ve gotten decently close in the week and a half, and the awkward silences they had on the first day they formally met each other were gone completely. they have a game on friday, and they win by 3 points. practices continue throughout the week they get back, and things seem like they’re normal. jeongin is thinking that maybe he really can ignore his “feelings” for hyunjin and get through the season without any hiccups.

 

it’s a thursday when things begin to change. jeongin is a mess in the library during lunch, trying to cram for his chemistry test that he had during sixth period. he had to keep a 3.0 gpa to play in any of the games, and if his gpa drops below a 2.8 he can’t even practice. the problem was, while jeongin was pretty good at all of his other subjects, chemistry was beyond difficult. he didn’t understand almost any of the concepts, and was barely scraping by with a c-. the c- was dragging his gpa down to a 2.9 and it was only a matter of days before coach park pulled him aside to tell him he couldn’t play in the game next friday.

 

jeongin jumps when a body sits across from him, looking up to see hyunjin sitting there, smiling smally at him. “hey,” hyunjin greets, setting a literature textbook on the table in front of him, “what are you studying for?”

 

jeongin groans and sets his head down on top of his open textbook and notes. hyunjin whistles quietly, “woah, sorry for asking.” hyunjin jokes.

 

jeongin lifts his head up, “sorry,” he apologizes, “it’s chemistry. i have a test today and i’m pretty sure i’m going to fail it and drop my grade down to a d… and then i won’t be able to play in the game next friday or go to practices until i get my grade up.”

 

hyunjin rests his head in his hand, “your gpa is that bad already?” 

 

jeongin rubs his eyes, “i know… i know. it’s not like i’m a terrible student, but i’m just… average. i get a lot of c’s and only a few b’s… and this c- dropping to a d will take my 2.9 gpa down to a 2.7 or something, and then bye-bye basketball.”

 

hyunjin pulls jeongin’s chem notes over to himself and winces, “well,” he begins, “taking better notes might be a good place to start. it’s no wonder you’re not understanding everything when you have the third step written down first and then the first step on a completely separate page.”

 

jeongin flushes. note-taking was never a strong point, and hyunjin was right. he couldn’t keep track of anything in his notes, and it was really taking a toll on his studying and grades. “yeah… i just, i don’t know, i scribble things down when they come to mind and just don’t really think about chronological order.”

 

hyunjin laughs and pulls out a few highlighters from his pencil bag. “here,” he pops open a yellow highlighter and starts highlighting things, and then switches to a blue one. “i’ll highlight everything that goes together, and then i can number things for you so you can see where they go.”

 

jeongin makes a noise of acknowledgement, and allows himself to stare at hyunjin as he highlights and numbers his mess of notes. his face was furrowed slightly in concentration and jeongin found his chest doing the weird squeezing thing again as he watched hyunjin do something for no other reason than to help jeongin. he wasn’t gaining anything from it, besides having jeongin still be able to play, but he was helping jeongin anyway.

 

hyunjin looks up and jeongin glances away quickly, face flushing. hyunjin smiles, sliding the papers back to jeongin, “there you go. if you have time before your test, rewriting this all in order will help you remember it better, and you know, in order, too.”

 

jeongin chuckles and rubs his neck sheepishly, “yeah, i’ll definitely try. thank you, hyunjin, you probably saved my life.”

 

hyunjin laughs loudly and jeongin decides that that sound is in his top 5 favorite sounds. “i’m sure,” hyunjin jokes back. “and i passed chem at my old school with an a, so if you ever need any other help, just let me know.”

 

and that’s how hyunjin ended up tutoring jeongin at lunch on mondays, wednesdays and fridays.

 

-

 

“hyunjin!” a voice calls from the other side of the cafeteria, and both jisung and hyunjin look up confused.

 

there’s a blur of color until jeongin comes into view, and hyunjin has to hold back a grin. he had become really fond of the younger, but would deny vehemently that it was because he liked him in any way that wasn’t platonic whenever jisung asked. (however, in reality, when jeongin laughed or tripped over himself at practice or did a cute victory dance when he made a basket, hyunjin’s heart skipped a beat. and sometimes when hyunjin was bored in class he would daydream about hanging out with jeongin and doing things that weren’t ‘platonic’ like getting ice cream but sharing a cup and holding hands and going to the fair together so hyunjin could win a stuffed animal for jeongin even though all the games were rigged.)

 

jeongin stops in front of hyunjin and jisung, and puts his hands on his knees, a paper clutched in his right hand as he pants to catch his breath. “what’s up?” hyunjin asks, concern lacing his voice.

 

he ignores jisung coughing that sounded suspiciously like ‘whipped’. “look!” jeongin says instead of actually answering hyunjin and shoves the paper in front of his face.

 

hyunjin grabs it and moves it so he can actually read what’s on the paper. it’s a chemistry test, one that has topics that hyunjin had helped him reorganize the first time they had studied in the library together. at the top of the paper, there’s a red 81% with a b- written next to it. jeongin is practically glowing standing next to hyunjin and hyunjin looks up grinning at the younger. “that’s awesome!” hyunjin exclaims.

 

jeongin sits next to hyunjin and jisung watches the event unfold in front of him. “yeah! it’s because of you helping me organize my notes that first time you came into the library.” jeongin explains, “and it brought my chem grade up to a c and my gpa up to a 3.0! i can play in the game on friday!”

 

hyunjin grins, and nudges jeongin’s shoulder with his, “i knew you could do it!”

 

jisung decides this is a good place to intervene, “hi!” he says energetically, “i’m jisung, hyunjin’s best friend because no one else will put up with him.”

 

hyunjin leans across the shoulder to slap jisung but jisung pushes his hand away and grins at jeongin. “he’s a loser, don’t trust anything he says that makes him seem cool.” jisung tells him.

 

jeongin laughs and hyunjin wants to see jeongin look that bright and happy all the time. “okay!” he plays along. “i’m jeongin, by the way, the other underclassman on the basketball team.”

 

there are footsteps behind them, and seungmin makes his presence known by slapping jeongin upside the head, “you jackass!” seungmin cries, falling in the seat next to jeongin dramatically, “you just ran off and left me in the science hallway! you freaked me out.”

 

jeongin bows his head guiltily, “sorry,” jeongin says, “i was just excited about my test score and wanted to show hyunjin.” 

 

seungmin sighs and then pushes jeongin gently, “it’s fine, i’m over it. you loser.” seungmin smiles to let jeongin know he wasn’t really upset with him.

 

jeongin grins, “your theater kid is showing, by the way.”

 

jisung, who had been silent since seungmin showed up, staring at the boy in awe, snaps out of it. “oh! you’re seungmin! the theater prodigy.”

 

seungmin jumps a little, noticing jisung’s presence, and jeongin can hear his breath hitch before seungmin stutters out a, “y-yeah, that’s me.”

 

jeongin turns to hyunjin, a mischievous grin gracing his face. hyunjin furrows his eyebrows and jeongin looks over at the clock on the wall across from them, “hyunjin! we’re going to be late for the basketball meeting!”

 

he stands up, pulling hyunjin with him. “basketball meeting? wha--” hyunjin asks confused.

 

“yeah! it starts in two minutes in the locker rooms.” jeongin explains and turns toward jisung and seungmin.

 

seungmin is trying to shake his head at jeongin discretely, obviously not wanting jeongin to leave him with jisung who he obviously thinks is cute. “we’ll see you guys later!”

 

he pulls hyunjin toward the locker rooms and hyunjin finally speaks up again, “there’s a basketball meeting?” he asks confused.

 

jeongin shakes his head, “no. seungmin likes jisung and i’m pretty sure jisung likes seungmin too, so i decided that if we left they would have no choice but to talk to each other and inevitably fall in love.” jeongin explains, sitting against the wall in the sports’ hallway.

 

hyunjin looks at jeongin in awe, and then grins, “i like the way you think,” he sits next to jeongin, “you’re basically cupid.”

 

jeongin laughs, but couldn’t help thinking that if  _ that _ were true, he’d be able to tell hyunjin how he felt and have hyunjin feel the same way about him. too bad he wasn’t cupid.

 

-

 

another two weeks pass, and it’s coming up on the end of the season. there’s two games left and those two games will decide whether or not they get to make it to districts and then possibly the state championships. hyunjin and jeongin have fallen into a routine of hyunjin taking jeongin home everyday, continuing their tutoring sessions during lunches on mondays, wednesdays, and fridays, and hanging out on saturdays too. 

 

they had become almost closer than jisung and hyunjin were, or jeongin and seungmin were. jeongin wasn’t sure when it happened, but somewhere along the way, their friendship had blossomed into something jeongin hadn’t really experienced before. the seniors on the team had warmed up to the duo more, and the team was close knit, but it had become obvious that hyunjin and jeongin had become really close. the others on the team kinda left the two to do their own thing. 

 

hyunjin is driving jeongin home like every night when jeongin decides to ask a somewhat serious question, “are we still going to be friends after the season ends?” 

 

hyunjin spares a glance at the younger as the light turns red. “what kind of question is that?” hyunjin responds, “of course we will be!”

 

jeongin smiles, “okay… i was just worried that maybe you saw this as only a basketball season friendship.”

 

hyunjin shakes his head, “if this is your way of trying to get rid of me, it’s not going to work.” he jokes, “you’re stuck with me, yang jeongin.”

 

“i think i’m okay with that,” jeongin whispers.

 

hyunjin couldn’t be sure he heard him right, but his heart skips a beat and then speeds up and his palms become a little sweaty. jeongin didn’t actually say that, right? jeongin didn’t like him too, did he? “what was that?” hyunjin asks.

 

another stop light, and hyunjin looks over to see an obvious blush growing on jeongin’s cheeks. “what? nothing.” jeongin says quickly, wringing his hands anxiously.

 

hyunjin grins at that. “okay,” hyunjin responds, deciding to let jeongin think that he wasn’t completely, 100% obvious with his feelings.

 

jeongin was like an open book, hyunjin decided. and he was okay with that, especially if it made it easier to believe that jeongin liked him back. “do you want to stop and get ice cream?” hyunjin asks.

 

jeongin doesn’t even hesitate before saying yes.

 

the two find themselves sharing a too-small booth in an ice cream parlor. (seriously, who thought that anyone could actually fit into this booth comfortably?) jeongin had a small cup with chocolate and strawberry ice cream while hyunjin had gone for mint chocolate chip. “gross.” jeongin had muttered, scrunching his nose up when hyunjin had sat across form him.

 

hyunjin scoffs, “what? don’t tell me you’re a mint chocolate chip hater.”

 

jeongin shrugs. “i just don’t like my ice cream to taste like toothpaste, is all.” 

 

hyunjin stops with ice cream halfway to his mouth, “what the hell kinda toothpaste are you using?”

 

the image of hyunjin makes jeongin choke on his ice cream, which in turns makes hyunjin burst into laughter too. “hey!” jeongin says through his laughter, “don’t laugh at me! i could have died!”

 

hyunjin tries to stop his laughter, “sorry, sorr-” before he breaks down into laughter again.

 

jeongin scoops a bit of ice cream onto his spoon while hyunjin is distracted with his laughter, and leans across the table and smears the pink ice cream across hyunjin’s cheek. hyunjin stops instantly, freezing, and jeongin worries for a moment that he’s made a mistake, that maybe this was stepping over a line that hyunjin had drawn that jeongin wasn’t aware of. maybe jeongin had been reading into things and hyunjin was going to yell at him for making him uncomfortable.

 

however, none of that happens. in fact, while jeongin was having a crisis, hyunjin scoops some of his own ice cream onto his spoon and then onto jeongin’s cheek too. jeongin lets out a squeak, and glares at hyunjin, “you put your toothpaste ice cream on my face!” he exclaims loudly.

 

“you put your--your--fruit ice cream on mine!” hyunjin says between giggles.

 

within moments a small ice cream fight breaks out between the two. after a bit too much ice cream had been smeared across their faces and then onto napkins, a breathless silence falls onto the two, and jeongin and hyunjin have a moment where they’re both looking at each other, matching red cheeks. “we--we should go, huh?” jeongin breaks the silence, “it’s getting late.”

 

“y-yeah.” hyunjin agrees, “let’s go.”

 

-

 

the last two games of the season pass in a blur of orange balls and shoes squeaking loudly on the gym floor. hyunjin and jeongin start hanging out after practice almost everyday. they sometimes go and get food, or walk around the park near jeongin’s house, and one time they even went to watch a new movie they had both wanted to see. 

 

right before the last “game” of the season, the one that determines whether or not they make it to districts, coach park pulls hyunjin and jeongin aside to tell them he’s really happy of how well they’ve been working together and how hard they worked this season. “i don’t know what you guys did, but whatever it is, i want you to continue to do it so i can see you two on the team again next year.”

 

after coach park walks away, hyunjin turns to jeongin, “what did we do?” he asks.

 

jeongin laughs, “i have absolutely no clue, but i’m happy with whatever it was.”

 

a small blush graces jeongin’s face and hyunjin grins at the younger boy, “me too,” he answers.

 

they win the game that night, and make it to districts. jisung and seungmin are standing next to each other in the stands, colorful posters with hyunjin and jeongin’s numbers written across them in one hand each, the other laced together. they hadn’t told jeongin and hyunjin they were together officially, but the sudden hand holding and hugging was enough proof for the two.

 

after hyunjin and jeongin have changed, the four go out to eat. jisung and seungmin “secretly” hold hands under the table, and both hyunjin and jeongin wish they had the guts to reach and grab the other’s hand too.

 

-

 

they place first at districts and earn themselves a ticket straight to the state championship finals. both hyunjin and jeongin’s parents come to the district games, and jeongin notices them sitting next to each other in the stands, talking animatedly about something. “i didn’t know our parents knew each other!” jeongin says to hyunjin, pointing them out.

 

hyunjin blushes bright red and rubs his neck awkwardly, “my mom told me during lunch that she saw your mom’s sweatshirt that had your name and number on it and introduced herself to them and then they got talking and sat next to each other when the next game started up.”

 

jeongin blushes too. “i didn’t know your parents knew about me.”

 

hyunjin doesn’t make eye contact, “i didn’t know your parents knew about me, either.”

 

jisung rushes up to them, “guys! congrats!” he says hugging both of them and then stops. “why are both of your faces so red?”

 

and suddenly their faces were even redder.

 

-

 

the state championship comes faster than either of them could have imagined. suddenly there’s ten minutes before the final games starts, and they’re playing the best team in the state and jeongin was so,  _ so  _ nervous. 

 

hyunjin takes a shot in the dark, and reaches and grabs jeongin’s hand while coach park is giving his last big pep talk. jeongin face flushes and he glances at hyunjin. hyunjin smiles brightly at him so jeongin squeezes his hand--a silent thank you as the butterflies and nerves calm down slightly as he remembers that no matter what happens, hyunjin will be there to live it with him.

 

the game is the closest game of the entire season. silver oak will score three points, getting ahead, and then suddenly the other team scores four. it’s a constant back and forth and they go into double overtime. both jeongin and hyunjin are getting plenty of court time, and the team was as hyped on adrenaline as ever. there’s 30 seconds left on the clock, and they’re down two points--56 to 54. it’s the final time out, and they’re all in a circle with coach park talking. “i don’t care who it is taking the shots this time,” he says, “just get that ball into the hoop as many times as you can, okay?” 

 

then they’re back on the court. the clock’s counting down, and jeongin doesn’t remember seconds going by so quickly before in his life. 30 seconds… 25… 20…15… he’s running and scooting past people, trying to keep himself open in case the ball comes toward him.

 

the ball is in the other team’s hands, but suddenly there’s a flash of color and the ball is in hyunjin’s hands. there’s loud cheers from everyone, and jeongin feels his heart rate spike. hyunjin was able to fake it past three of the best members on the other team.  _ 10 seconds _ .

 

it’s a full on sprint toward the hoop, the other team somehow left in the dust. jeongin finds himself stuck to the floor.  _ 5 seconds _ . hyunjin bends his knees, looks toward the hoop, and lets the ball go.  _ 3… 2… _ the ball sinks through the hoop right as the buzzer goes off. the crowd erupts into ear splitting cheers, and jeongin is frozen for another split second as he watches the score on the board go from 56 - 54 to 56 - 57. they did it. they won. because of hyunjin.

 

suddenly he’s sprinting full force down the court where hyunjin is surrounded by the rest of the team, all cheering loudly. he’s able to finally force himself through the crowd of his team members and excited crowd watchers, to hyunjin in the middle of the mess of people.

 

“hyunjin!” he screams, and hyunjin turns around quickly at the sound of his voice.

 

“jeongin!” he exclaims happily when he seems him, “we did it we--”

 

something overtakes jeongin as he puts most of his weight on the balls of his feet, and grabs hyunjin’s face in both hands and plants his lips onto hyunjin’s. 

 

hyunjin lets out a small  _ mrph _ as his words are cut off, but then kisses jeongin back almost instantly. it’s like in the movies when the loud cheers and screams fade into silence as romantic music starts playing and the camera pans around the two kissing in the middle of the basketball court.

 

jeongin pulls away finally, face flushed, hyunjin matching him. “you did it.” jeongin whispers.

 

hyunjin grins but the moment is ripped apart when seungmin and jisung appear. “ha!” seungmin almost screams, “you owe me $25!”

 

hyunjin sputters indignantly, “you guys bet on us?”

 

jeongin furrows his eyebrows, “about what?”

 

jisung rubs the back of his neck awkwardly, “we bet $10 on who would kiss who first, and $15 on when.” jisung explains, “seungmin won both.”

 

seungmin and jisung start bickering as to whether or not jisung actually had to pay seungmin. jeongin glances over at hyunjin who’s looking at him fondly. he reaches over and laces their fingers together. hyunjin grins, and it seems like both of the boys were almost glowing. “wanna go out sometime?” hyunjin asks greasily.

 

jeongin hits him with his free hand, “you’re such a dork!” he exclaims and hyunjin breaks down into the same tinkering laughter that jeongin loves so much.

 

hyunjin catches his breath and jisung and seungmin are still arguing. “but yes,” jeongin answers, “i’ll go out with you.”

 

hyunjin grins even wider, “who woulda thought?” he asks, “the two varsity outcasts end up together at the end.”

 

jeongin flushes pink at the mention of the dorky thing he said the first day they had officially met. “i guess we really were in a crappy teen romcom.”

 

“yeah,” hyunjin says quietly, looking down at their linked fingers, “we were.”

**Author's Note:**

> follow me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/xbandable)!


End file.
